Unraveling Time
by tsunami mermaid
Summary: When Leo set out to find Raph, he gets captured by the foot, who then decide that instead of immediatly killing him, to use him as a lab rat to test cures to the mutation. But will they find a "cure", or something entirely different?
1. Chapter 1

"Yo Mikey im open!" cried Donatello, but a shove to the chest, curtesy ofa giant red clad turtle, sent Don sailing across the floor.

Mike, seeing Raph charging st him with the ferocity of a dead set bull dozer, turned around and prepared to run in the opposite direction. Upon turning around, with the intention of running, he came face to face with yet another sibling. This one had firey, ferocious eyes.

"Boo!" Mikey screamed as Leonardo snatched the ball from his hands, flipped over his ducked figure, and rpassed the ball to raph, who then performed a beautiful swish shot; nothing but net.

"Yeah! Team mean and Green, 1 point. Team Silver Sentry, 0. Suck it Mikey." Leo and Raph exchanged high fives as Mikey pulled Don off the floor.

"Hey, that push was illegal, Raph. That's a foul," Don said, dusting the dirt off his knees as he stood.

"Hey guys, just remember, this is still a training session. Anything goes," Leo commented, stepping in between the two feuding brothers.

And so the turtles played their frightfully intense game of basketball. The team building and agility exercise did its job to bring the closer together and strengthen both their minds and bodies. The family dynamic ran perfectly: Leonardo, the pillar to bare the weight of the team; Raphael, the ammunition they needed in keeping them focused on their tasks ahead; Donatello, the brains and critical thinking behind every situation; and Michelangelo, the glue that held them all together. That family dynamic was altered, though, on one very fateful day.

Raph stood, his eyes boiling with fury. "What do you mean we can't go? I have waited 9 months for this day, and it's finally here. I even stayed away fro the hospital at your wishes, Master Splinter. You can't keep me here."

"Raphael! I understand your desire to see the children, but we cannot risk leaving right now. The foot have been swarming the city and camping out at their house. They are using this as bait to set their trap!"

"Exactly! That's why we need to be over there to protect them."

"No. my son, I forbid you to go topside. That is y final word."

Raph huffed and puffed, his shoulders arched defensively, his fists clenched, his eyes glowering the darkest of death glares. But Master Splinter held his ground and glared right back, as if daring him to say another word. The other three turtles just watched this silent battle unfold mere feet away.

"I'm not sure I've ever seen Master Splinter look at anyone like that before," hissed Mikey.

"Yeah, this is going to be one for the record books. I'm almost scared to get in between them," Don replied.

"Master Splinter is right. It's too dangerous. Going over would not only risk our lives, but April, Casey, and the babies as well." Having added his mature words of wisdom, Leo crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall.

"I suppose, but I still really want to see them. Maybe we can just video chat instead. Although that's not exactly how I wanted to meet my God son for the first time."


	2. Chapter 2

Raph sat alone in his room, rolling his sais in between his hands as quickly as possible, his eyes spinning with memories. When he'd found out that April was pregnant, he was ecstatic. Despite his dark, brooding, temperamental personality, he had always been fascinated by children and their simple joy. Being a giant turtle though didn't allow for much interaction.

After a few months April had been getting bigger and bigger, so Casey brought her to the doctor to have her examined. And that's when the big news came out; they were going to have twins!

After a few night prowls on the roof with Casey, discussing his new role as a father, Casey had asked Raph to be the God father.

His eyes glistened at the memory. His feelings at the time were a little mixed. Things such as shock, pride, and worry had run through him. What if the children were scared of him? Don was asked to be the other God parent, and his caring, gentle, and thoughtful nature had made him the perfect match.

All he wanted to do was to get to know this kid. For once he could finally be around a child. But to be told that he was forbidden to leave the house and stirred up some tremendous outrage, and he would not just sit there while the Foot were hanging around April and Casey's house. No matter the trouble it could cause him in the end, the family was definitely at risk.

Standing from his bed, he peaked his head around the door, weary of the teachers pet Leonardo walking by. Seeing no one and figuring that he was probably training, again, he slid out from the room and peered over the railing. There was no one in the living room. Don was probably in his lab and Mikey was no where to be seen, surprisingly. He ran to the stairs with a silent run that only ninjas possess.

After reaching the door and encountering no one, he opened it, only to find the last thing he wanted to see.

"uh-oh, looks like someone's sneaking out. that's a no-no Raphy boy." Mike stood with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Mike, you better move or ill move you myself."

"Master Splinter said to let no one leave. Its too dangerous. So you want to get them killed?"

"Without me there they're in danger. I'm telling you right now, step aside Mikey." Raph left his sais in his belt, but stepped back and took a ready fighting stance. Mike, seeing the seriousness on his face, proceeded to do the same. Within seconds a fight broke out, Mike against Raph, hand to hand combat. Raph went for a punch to the side of the head but Mike blocked it. Grabbing the blocking arm, Raph twisted his body and sent mike flying over his shoulder. Raph, using this to his advantage, ran out the door, and he just kept on running.


	3. Chapter 3

The streets were dark and empty, only the faint light of the street lamps and the occasional sign could be seen. The air was cool and damp from the recent rain, and a tinge of cigarette smoke lingered in the abandon alley-way. All was quiet. Peaceful, even.

Raphael flew through the air like an alien flying squirrel, constantly jumping from roof top to roof top, with little regard for being seen on such a dark evening. He fumed angrily. What business was it of Mikeys to tell him what he could and couldn't do? He was older, more mature, and, in his eyes, a better ninja. So what concern should he have of getting caught?

The Jones's home was only a block away now, and he could just about see the apartment building where they lived. Suddenly, though, an eerie sound rang out through the air, much like a trumpet. It was a loud horn, and could be heard from miles and miles away. Raph stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh shit."

He had no sooner gotten the words out than the Foot were upon him, coming from out of the blackness of every direction of the roof. There was a sea of them, all running towards the only living creature on the roof, Raph. He pulled out his sais and immediately sprang into action. Bodies went flying everywhere, some sprawled on the ground, others sailing over the side of the roof. He swiped at every living thing he could see, thankful for his good eye sight. But the ninjas just kept coming, pouring in from all sides. It was overwhelming.

Suddenly, there was a sound like the slapping of wood just a few feet away, but there were too many ninjas for Raph to see what it was. The sound got closer and closer, but Raph just kept fighting. Within seconds he was back to back with a familiar warrior.

"Ooh boy, now you've done it Raphy."

"Casey! Glad to see you still got it. Thought you weren't gonna show," Raph replied, glad to finally be back with his old friend.

"Dude, we could see you brawling right from our living room window. You were kinda hard to miss." Casey swiped his large hockey stick down at the ninjas, obviously breaking one of their shoulders before repeating with the next too. "Why are there so many of them? What are they after?"

"What they're always after; us." Raph bashed one in the back of the head and leaned to the side to sweep the legs of all within reach, but even he knew it wasn't enough. They were massively outnumbered, and more kept on coming. They were either going to have to hold them off for as long as they could and hope for the best, or run. Neither of those options were desirable.

Without warning, members of the elite guard appeared out of nowhere. They examined the massive fight and moved closer. They were going to finish this. But before they had even taken a step, a second turtle lunged out of the shadows and onto the backs of one of their members.

There were too many foot and too much havoc for Raph to identify the turtle, so he kept fighting. But blow after blow he was getting more and more worn down. Casey had already been nearly thrown off the building but managed to just barely avoid toppling over the edge before more foot came in the attempt to finish him off.

"Raph, Raph get out! Its time for us to leave!" Raph spun around. He instantly recognized the voice. It was Leo battling the Elite Guard. "We cant hold them off any longer!"

Raph snarled. He absolutely hated running from a fight, and taking orders from Leo. But Casey was hurt, and there was no way out of the mess. Then, groaning, he gave two foot a good punch in the face and ran. He grabbed Casey and lifted him onto his shoulder. "Alright Leo, lets book!"

Leo spun and sliced one of the Guard in the leg before sheathing his katana. Quickly as he could, he followed Raph as he jumped off the building and onto the next one. Just as he jumped, though, a figure tightly secured itself around his back, and dragged him down to the ground below.

Raph, unaware of the sudden attack from behind and assuming that the brother was just taking up the rear, kept going.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for such short chapters, but id rather post shorter ones more frequently then longer ones less frequently. Enjoy!**

Leo felt arms wrap themselves around his back just as his foot left the roof. He meant to cry out but the same being on is back had their arm around his face. How had he not heard them? How had they been so close on his heels that he was still dumb enough to jump from the roof?

He felt the weight drag him down. He may have been thoughtless enough to jump, but he was not going down without a fight. Using his quick thinking and ninja like reflexes, he spun in mid air so that he was now falling backwards, with the ninja still holding onto his shell.

With a sickening crunch, the two hit the ground, the ninja underneath him to break the fall, just like he'd planned. But the pain in his head, shoulder, and back told him that it hadn't been enough. The world spun above him, while the ninja below him didn't move a muscle. He grabbed his searing shoulder and rolled over.

The pain was excruciating. He had obviously broken something; definitely his arm and maybe his collar bone and a few ribs, he wasn't sure.

He looked to his left. There on the ground next to him lay the body of the Foot Elite that had dragged him under. He couldn't tell if it was dead or merely unconscious, but he just assumed unconscious, because it was, after all, a Foot Elite.

His head began to spin even more severely. The world seemed to be sideways. He slumped to his side and groaned. He was sure it would be just a matter of time before his brothers came to find him. He didn't t want to wait until then, but he didn't seem to have much of a choice. Everything was growing darker, if possible.

Suddenly, there was a light sound of foot steps. Leo instantly jumped. He could not recognize the foot steps, and there fore it couldn't be his brother. But the pain in his head, arms, and chest prevented him from moving. Mustering all the strength he could manage, he used his only good arm in an attempt to drag his partially mangled body into the shadows of an ally-way only mere feet away. But it was of no use. The foot steps were only growing louder. Within seconds they would be upon him. Giving all the strength he had left to powering arm, he gave it three last good heaves before loosing copiousness behind a neighboring trash can.

"Hey Don, you wanna play some Dance Dance Revolution with me? April just lent it to me, a few months ago. She said it's a great way to keep your reflexes and coordination sharp." Mikey, had walked into Dons room, giving him the best puppy dog eyes and cutesy girl smile he could possibly come up with. Don glowered up from his book.

"Not now Mikey, I'm reading. it's a book on the medieval catapult system. I've read it over twenty times before, but the technology is still so fascinating considering the lack of knowledge and resources those people possessed.

Mike stared blankly. "Man, we really need to find you a new book. Say, where is Raph and Leo? Haven't seen them in hours now that I think about it. Do you think I could convince either of them to play?"

Don paused for a moment, caught in a vision of their bold and brave leader and their hot-headed brooding brother duking it out over a competitive match of DDR. The idea was comical. "I don't think so. And don't know where they are. Raph probably went out for an evening run, even though Master Splinter specifically said not to. Yup, that sounds like Raph. And Leo I have no idea."

"Aww. Fine, ill just go play with myself, again."

Don recognized the hint of self-pity Mikey had purposely thrown in there to make him consider changing his mind. "That wont work anymore Mikey."

Don heard the sewer door slide open with a rough grinding creak. Someone was home. Within seconds Don heard Mikey squeal.

"Eeeh, Raph what happened?"

Don was immediately out of his seat and bolted towards out of the room to see the commotion going on downstairs. He was greeted with a rather unpleasant sight. Raph, sporting a few good bruises, a particularly large one right on the mouth, carrying a bleeding Casey over his shoulder. With a grunt he dropped the groaning Casey onto the couch.

"We were attacked. Sell actually in all honesty it was me. I left the lair to go to April and I shouldn't have. I was attacked and Casey came to my aid. There were hundreds of Foot. We were bashed around pretty badly. Then the Foot Elite showed up and that's when our fearless leader showed up out of nowhere. Hey speaking of which so he back yet? I know he was a few feet behind me last time I checked."

Both Don and Mike exchanged blank glances, looked back, and shook their heads.


	5. Chapter 5

Raph could feel his heart beat faster. Leo was right behind him, he couldn't have gone far. How had he not noticed? Maybe he was just lagging behind, taking his time. Maybe he had taken a detour. Yeah, that's it, he thought. He must have taken the long way home. His heart slowed slightly. This was Leo they were talking about, after all.

"Guys relax. I'm sure he's on his way. He's probably just off doing whatever it is Leo's do at night. He was right behind me, he'll be along."

Mikey and Don just looked at each other, and Raph tried to shake that tiny bal of dread that was growing in his stomach with each passing moment. He prayed his assumptions were correct.

"I hope your right, Raph," said Don. The other two picked up on the slight tinge of harshness in his tone, ad watched in surprise as he retreated to is Lab. Don rarely displayed feelings of anger towards his siblings, or anyone for that matter.

"Uuum, you might want to go talk to him. Yeah, that would be a good idea," said Mikey, talking to himself as he walked away t go clean up the breakfast dishes.

Raph sighed. Having deep one on one conversations with his brothers wasn't exactly one of the things he was known for. But taking another deep breath, he decided to just pull back his shoulders, put on a brave face, and figure out what was bothering his younger brother.

He knocked on the large steel door. Don was definitely in a bad mood. He rarely ever shut the door; only when he was angry or working on something particularly dangerous. And on occasion he would use it to hide from Mikey, but even those times were rare. There was no answer at first, but after a few seconds Raph could see the door getting pried open just slightly, just large enough to see out of.

"Yes," was the reply as Don peered through the crack.

"Hey Donny, I just wanted to, umm, I don't know, see if you were ok. You seem a little off," Raph said, tightening the tails of his bandana and looking at the floor.

Don looked around and sighed. "Come in."

Entering, the first things that Raph noticed were a bunch of maps strewn about the lab, covering tables, benches, chairs, the floor, the wall, and even one on the ceiling, which he found a bit bizarre. There was barely any room to walk around. "Wow Donny, what have we got here? It looks like your planning an army field attack," he said, noticing the scattered dots splashed upon each one.

"They're Foot sightings. I've made several diagrams expressing all the sightings we've had and battles we've taken part in or heard about since last March. Something's just not right, I can feel it but I'm having trouble pinpointing the exact similarities between all of these figures. I feel like its staring me right in the face and I just cant see it. Its maddening. The Foot are definitely up to something, and its clear that they're getting what they want based on the parts of New York that they're frequently visiting, but I just cant figure out what it is they're after." He leant over one of the map laden lab desks and let his head drop. "Look Raph, I'm sorry I snapped. I've just been a little bit on end lately, and to be honest, I'm worried. And I've been stressed. I just don't know what's going on."

Raph stood and put his hand on his brothers shell. "Hey why, bro, relax. Whatever's going on, we'll get to the bottom of it. We always do. Plus the foot are dumb, and careless."

Don chuckled slightly. "You got that right."

* * *

><p>Voices. There were voices. The soft murmuring was all that the drugged ears could hear. No clear words. No distinguishable voices. But as time passed, he knew they were talking about him.<p>

Slowly, he cracked open one of his eyes. It felt glued shut with dried crud, and he wondered how long he'd been out. Ahead of him, he could see a large, blinding light. He squinted.

"Where is that ninja? I want you to bring him here to me! We have some matters of rewards to discuss."

And that's when Leo finally knew where he was. He jumped instantly and opened his eyes, suddenly noticing the restraints bound around most of his body. He was strapped to what clearly looked like a lab dissection table, or as Mikey would call it, a 'don't touch me' table.

And worst of all, based on the very prominent voice of Karai, he knew that he had to be in none other than the Foot Headquarters.


	6. Chapter 6

Karai opened the door leading to his holding room and stared down at the turtle strapped with restraints. His person was cool and calm and un-showing of any signs of outrage, but she could see the fire burning in his eyes.

"What do you want Karai?" Leo asked, making sure to keep his voice low and smooth, so as not to give her the satisfaction of getting a rise out of him.

"Ah, just what I've always wanted, Leonardo. Revenge. Revenge that is rightfully mine, ever since you and your brothers stole my father from me, ripped him from this world. Yes, the revenge is mine for the taking." she glared down at him evilly, her hands clasped behind her back.

"But that still doesn't answer my question. What do you want from me?" He was antagonizing her, he could tell. But she was playing it just as cool as he was.

"Well, as a matter of fact, what I want is something that might surprise you a little bit. Something you'll never see coming."

His skin prickled slightly. She was so close, hissing in his ear, like the slippery snake she was. She snapped her fingers together, making him jump. A hooded man in a lab coat instantly appeared, carrying what looked like a syringe.

"Sleep tight Leonardo."

* * *

><p>With every passing hour, Raphs heart could only sink lower and lower. By the time twelve hours had passed, he finally decided to go out and look for his missing brother.<p>

"That's it! I'm going out to look for him." Raph, who had been twirling his sad restlessly, put them back in their holsters.

"I'm coming too. We'll cover more ground that way." said Don, adjusting is bo staff.

"Yeah, me too. Man, I wonder what happened to him? This isn't like him," said Mikey, quickly shutting the tv off and standing up to join his brothers.

"My sons, be sure to be careful. There is a curious hand at work here. I cannot explain it, so watch your backs. And, be careful." He glanced quickly at Raphael, and Rah knew he was seeing right through him. He felt ashamed.

"We will Master Splinter. We'll bring him home," said Don. "Lets go."

* * *

><p>"Alright guys, we'll be better off if we split up. Keep your cell shells on and ready incase you find anything. Raph, you take the rooftops and alleyways, you know them best. Mikey, you can try down by the docks. I doubt there's anything there, but we cant leave any place unchecked. Ill take the sewers. Alright? Fan out!"<p>

They quickly departed, leaving zero traces of there presence behind.

Raph quickly leapt from the nearest rooftop to the next one directly ahead. He had no idea where to start, he was merely searching aimlessly. The whole strategizing and organizing thing wasn't his thing, it was Leo's, and he's lost him. Taking a sharp left, he figured he try out where it all began, outside of the Jones's. He had already called April to tell her that Casey was alright and that he would be crashing in the lair for the night, so she had probably gone to bed.

He finally reached the now abandoned rooftop where the fight had taken place only hours before. Nothing. Not even a lonely weapon or a shred of clothing had been left behind. It was spotless. He looked around, and started to check the neighboring rooftops, but each was just as spotless as the next.

He finally found himself at the one place he knew he shouldn't be: April and Casey's. It had not been his intention to arrive here, he had simply wandered aimlessly and happen to find himself outside their windows. He sighed and looked at the ground. What an idiot he was. Because of him, his brother was missing, his sensei was angry with him, his best friend was hurt, and he had put the lives of a brand new family in danger.

Suddenly, he noticed a tiny yellow light protruding through one of their closed curtain windows. Now, he had never really been the nosey type, and the only person whose business he cared about was his own, but this intrigued him. He had never noticed it before. Stepping to the edge of the neighboring roof, e leaned in as far as possible to see if he could get a clear look inside.

Frustrated and distracted from his previous duty, he made a leaping jump from the edge of the roof to the emergency exit hanging just off the window. He grabbed the railing easily, but made a racket so loud he was surprised that the whole buildings lights didn't go on. He quickly climbed up and leaned against the wall, back into the shadows. When he was convinced that no one was sticking there heads out the window for a better look, he allowed himself to lean onto the window and peer inside.

The light turned out to be a tiny orange fish plugged into the wall; a nightlight. He looked around. There were two cribs, a changing table, a chest, two rocking chairs, and a single giant mobile hanging over the center of the room. It was the nursery.

Raphs curiosity twitched. He felt like Mikey. But regardless, he had to get a look inside. Silently lifting up the giant window, he made a mental note to tell Casey and April to lock the windows at night. He slipped inside. All was quiet, but a tiny stiffening yawn made him turn his head. Walking slowly and nervously, he peered over one of the cribs.

It was the sweetest thing Raph had ever seen. There in the crib, slept the tiny infant, obviously male, from the blue jammies. His little fists were curled into a ball and tucked neatly underneath his chin. He had a slightly pudgy face and a tiny mouth. Raph reached down and touched the tiny fist with his finger. He'd never been this close to a baby before. The infant didn't move a muscle at the touch of the scaly green creature. He was too deep in his delightful dreaming. It was miraculous, thought Raph, to be able to tough something so young and innocent and not have someone running, screaming, or cringing.

A tiny hiccup sounded on the other side of the room. Raph gently pulled the blankets over the infants shoulders and went to see the other one. This one had to be a girl, Raph decided, based on the pink footy pajamas and the blankets. Her features, surprisingly, were more pudgy than her brothers. But she was beautiful, even with the tiny dabble of drool escaping the side of her mouth. Sitting in the crib with her, Raph instantly recognized the floppy stuffed raccoon Mikey had had as a child. Raph only hoped April had washed it first.

Suddenly, a small whimper echoed throughout the room, followed quickly by the high pitched moaning of a cry. Raph took a step back. Babies were cute and all, but the whole crying thing really freaked him out. Taking one last look at the room, he reopened the window and slid out as silently as when he'd come in. He knew that if April had caught him in there, he would either scare the shell out of her.

He jumped off the escape ladder and ran through the abandoned alleyway below. He looked at his watch. It was 2:30 in the morning, no one would be up. Running through the maze of alleyways, he finally set out to find his brother.

Distraction. He had gotten distracted again,, and that's what had caused the whole mess in the first place! E had to stay focused.

Suddenly, there was a shuffle amongst the trash cans. Turning around he expected to see mugger, thief, or some other street thug looking to take the money that he didn't have, but all he saw was his older brother, lying face down on top of a dumpster.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, please R&amp;R. Theres no way I can improve if you dont!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

His eyes were closed and his left arm was slung awkwardly behind his back in a very unnatural way. His swords lay on the ground below him.

"Leo!" Raph ran over to his brother, immediately pulling out his shell cell.

"Hello? Donny its me! I found Leo and he aint looking too good."

"Alright, we're on our way there. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Raph examined the giant chunk missing out of the center of his shell. It was all torn up. Then he took notice of the bruises.

"I don't know. He's definitely unconscious, one of his arms is clearly broken, he's got some damage in his shell and some good sized bruises."

"Alright, we're almost there. Just don't move him. It may do more harm than good."

Raph hung up the hone and examined his brother for anymore damage. This didn't make sense. Why would the Foot just leave the leader unconscious on top of a trash can? Not that he wasn't grateful, but it wasn't like them to just walk away from an opportunity. And what in the world did they do to his shell?

Donny arrived within minutes and both he an Mikey instantly came running out of the Battle Shell.

"Leo!" cried Mikey as he caught sight of his eldest brother.

"Step aside," said Donny, trying to move a very reluctant Raph out of his way. Raph did not want to move more than 3 feet away from his brother. Finally giving Don his space, he went over next to Mikey to wait for the diagnosis. He could feel Mikey trembling slightly next to him.

After a few seconds of examination, filled with poking and prodding, the braniac stepped back.

"Well, his breathing and heart rate seem normal, but he has definitely taken a major beating. I don't think he's suffered any head injury so we'll have to move him as soon as possible. But he's got what appears to be a broken and collar bone, and possible some ribs. I wont know until he's moved. We have to watch out for the shell, though. We don't want to scratch it up even more." Donny crossed his arms and turned to Raph.

"So he's going to be ok, right?" asked Raph, trying to hide his fear stricken face as best he could., but he knew his brother saw right through it. This is all my fault, he thought.

"He should be fine, just in a lot of pain for awhile. And like I said, with a broken arm, he wont be able to train or fight for awhile. And you know how Leo gets when he cant fight."

"Ah dude, we are in for it," said Mikey, finally speaking up after he heard that his brother would be alright.

"Oh yes we are. And guess who's fault that is?" Don turned and glared fiercely at Raph. Raph was slightly taken aback by Donny's fierceness. Frankly, it wasn't like him.

"My fault? He was the one who paid absolutely no attention to what you were doing! You were the one who left and disobeyed direct orders! You were the one who carelessly left our brother behind!" Donny's voice had raised a little bit higher than it probably should have, considering their environment and the time of day.

Mikey could practically see steam coming out of Raph's ears and he seemed to grow in size as his muscles clenched. He thought he might just pop like a balloon.

But as Raph moved forward to come inches from Donny's face, Don merely stood his ground and glared back. "Don't tell me you know its not true." His voice was icy. It gave Mikey the chills.

This seemed to break Raph a little bit. His posture seemed to melt slightly, but he remained silent.

"That's what I thought," seemed Don, still glaring.

Meanwhile, Mikey was in shock. Not only was this extremely out of character for Don, but during this whole thing they seemed to completely forget about their unconscious brother lying face down on a dumpster. "Ummm guys, how about we save the blaming for once we get home and after we've collected the brother in the dumpster?"

Both immediately snapped their heads around to turn and face him, with a short look of confusion on their faces. Then, remembering their important task at hand, went about gently lifting Leo off the dumpster, retrieving the katanas, and getting him settled into the Battle Shell. Raph was sure to take the greatest care in moving Leo, so that he didn't displace any more bones. He knew he'd already done enough damage.

Don had pulled out a couple of towels and they lay their motionless brother in between the isle of seats on the floor. This was difficult, because they needed to have him steadied so that he wouldn't go flying if the car stopped suddenly, but they couldn't lay him on his shell because of the scratches, or his stomach because of the broken rib. Finally they decided to move him onto his side, the broken arm facing up, with Raph and Mikey on either side for support.

When they started heading home it was nearly dawn. Raph grasped his brothers bad shoulder tightly. It was his fault. Donny was right. It was all his fault. As they took a particularly tight turn, he glanced down at his older brother. He was still unconscious, but Raph could have sworn that there was a look of pain etched on his face. Raph sighed and, making sure his younger brother couldn't see., reached out and held Leo's lifeless hand.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry its such a short chapter, I'll hopefully post more within the next 24 hours.

* * *

><p>The lair door opened with a loud bang. Don instantly ran into his lab, quickly followed by Raph, carrying Leo, and Mikey. As soon as Rah entered the lab, he noticed that Don had already started plowing papers, books, pens and pencils, lab utensils, and everything else onto the floor. Debris now scattered the already cluttered floor, and Don had to jump over everything to get to the table that Leo was now lying on.<p>

"Alright Raph, I'm going to need some help with this. Grab those scissors over there please." Raph ran to grab the scissors just as Don began to unroll the bandages. "The first thing we need to do is support that shoulder, then the arm," Don took some of the bandages and wrapped them as tightly as he could around the shoulder and collar bone area, and u around the back of his neck to the other shoulder for support. Next he wrapped his forearm and around his wrist and hand on the left arm.

Raph looked around, suddenly noticing the absence of one of his brothers. "Hey, where's Mikey?"

"Don't know. He doesn't really like blood, or injury for that matter, so he's probably avoiding this lab completely if he can help it." Don cut the last of the gauze and secured it. "Alright, next is the rib cage. I'm pretty sure he's got some broken ribs, so we've got to figure out a way to flip him over so I can look at his shell without causing further injury. Help me roll him onto his right side, we're going to have to wrap his whole chest and shell, kill two birds with one stone, or bandage. Alright, just be careful not to grab the shoulder. On the count of three. One, two, three!" Together, they heaved the giant turtle onto his side.

"Ouch, Donny, we're going to have to clean up this crater," said Raph, taking a good look at the gash that had been taken out of Leos shell. Donny came around with the scissors and began to go to work trimming the flaking pieces in the middle.

"I'm afraid that's all we can do for now. We'll just have to wait for it to begin to heal, then we can cut the dead peelings off." he put the scissors back down once more and continued with the wrapping until he was all finished. Once he was done, Leo looked as if he could have passed as a half mummy. Practically his entire chest and left arm were covered in bandages. "Now I'm going to take a blood test, just to be safe." He swabbed the arm with alcohol and drew the blood. Raph cringed slightly. He disliked needles just as much as Mikey. "Alright, that will take just a couple hours to analyze."

"Ok, so now what? When will he wake up?" asked Raph impatiently. He could feel the guilt welling up inside of him. He just wanted his brother to wake up and be ok, for things to go back to normal.

"I don't know, I'm not even sure what knocked him out in the first place. I'm assuming he fell from that building, but Leo's like a cat, he always lands on his feet. This doesn't make sense." He scratched the back of his head and stared at his brother. Alright, lets move him onto the couch. I'm supposed to have a bed set up in here but I haven't made it yet. Help me lift him."

Together they lifted the turtle and as carefully as possible carried him into the living room. Mikey was still nowhere to be seen. They put him on the couch and covered him with a light blanket. "Now all we do is wait."


	9. Chapter 9

I think it's about time I start busting this story out, don't you think? Sorry it took so long, I couldn't find a decent place to end the chapter.

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><p><em>I've failed. He could have been seriously injured, and it would have been on my shell! What if the foot had captured him? What if he'd, heaven forbid, fallen off the rooftop and become turtle paste? What if he'd suffered bran trauma? Uuugh, what am I going to do? I'm such a loser!<em>

Raph swung out and shredded the poster of the red Ducati he had hanging on his wall with one hand. The pieces fell to the floor and, falling to his knees, grabbed them and continued shredding them until they were nothing more than tiny specs of confetti. Releasing a deep groan, he rolled back and rested his head in his arms.

"What am I going to do?" he muttered softly to himself. Just then there was a quiet knock on the door. He quickly stood, ran over to his giant hammock, grabbed a magazine, and grumbled a rather harsh "come in."

Slowly Master Splinter entered. "My son. There is no sense in pretending, I can feel your tension from outside your door."

Raph dropped the magazine, crossed his arms, and sighed.

"What troubles you my son?" Master Splinter sat on the trunk holding some of his prized possessions on the other side of the room.

"No offense Master Splinter, but I really don't want to talk about it." He turned his head slightly so that his master couldn't meet his gaze.

"I cannot force you to talk, my son, but perhaps you should go talk to Michelangelo. He has also been in his room, quite distressed. He, too, will not tell me what is going on, so perhaps it is best if you two work it out amongst yourselves." With that, he stood. "I will be downstairs helping Donatello if the need to socialize arises." He walked out the door and closed it quietly behind him.

Raph looked on desperately as his sensei disappeared from view. He needed things to be ok.

Now that the door was left fully open, Raph could hear the loud acoustics of a guitar banging out from the other end of the hallway: Mikey. Raph stood, figuring it would be best to go and see what was bothering the youngest turtle so much, and if there was truly nothing wrong, he hoped that maybe he'd be able to get hi mind off the craziness that had taken place. If anyone could cause a distraction, it was Mikey.

Soon after reaching the turtles door, though, he realized that perhaps Mikey would not be in much of a conversing mood at all. His door was securely shut, which Mikey rarely ever did. Normally he preferred the frequent comings and goings of his brothers, and he absolutely hated feeling like the only one in the lair. But this time was different. His door was closed and the music was so deafening that Raph had to wonder if even the loudest of knocks on the door would reach his ears.

Regardless, he knocked. When no response followed he knocked louder. "Yo Mikey, open up!" Still no response. After knocking for the third time and receiving nothing, he finally just decided to open the door. There was only one problem, it was locked.

That was definitely out of the ordinary. "Hey Mikey, open this door right now! Mikey! You better open this door right now or ill-" he was cut short when a droopy faced Michelangelo finally answered the fiery ones yells by opening the door. He glared.

"What?" It was a rather harsh question, being barked out more like an order than a question. Mikey seemed to have realized his tone though and barely managed to soften his expression a little bit.

"Whoa, bro, what's crawling in your shell?" asked Raph, equal parts shocked and amused.

Mike rubbed the back of his neck lightly. "Oh, I just umm, I don't know, I've been thinking." he said simply.

"You? Thinking? About what?" asked Raph, becoming more amused.

"You know, the whole incident." He motioned the living room below where they both knew Leo sleeping.

Raph's mood instantly fell again. "Oh. Yeah, right." He looked away and they both shifted uncomfortably.

"You know, its weird. He's got so much fight in him, and you and I both know he'd jump in front of a bus, that was on fire, with passengers inside, traveling down the interstate, going 60 miles per hour, while-"

"Your point?" Raph cut him off from his little rant.

"My point is I wonder if we'll ever be able to return the favor." After that Mikey went back to staring at his feet.

This was a peculiar question coming from the seemingly brainless knucklehead, and it was one that only planted more guilt in his gut. "I don't know," was all he could reply.

Before there could be anymore awkwardness, they head Don holler from down stairs. "Hey guys, come here for a second." Both turtles instantly obeyed.

"Geez Donny, why don't you just scream in his ear already," said Raph, referencing to the sleeping Leo only a few feet away.

"Don't worry, he wont wake up for a few more hours at least. I do need to talk to you though, and just incase by some offhand chance he does wake u, we should probably have this conversation else where." Donny mimed towards the kitchen and they followed, curious as to what their brother had discovered.

While Raph and Mikey took seats at the table, Don remained standing.

"Alright guys, I've started a few blood tests just to be sure that Leo hasn't been contaminated by anything. I personally find it very bizarre that the Foot would just leave I'm out in the open but that is beside the point. My real point is," he paused and sighed for a moment. "I'd love to tell you that everything tested just fine, but I would be lying. There is definitely something not right with his DNA and there's a chemical in his blood stream that hasn't stopped flowing since we've found him. I've done numerous tests, but unfortunately, I cant seem to identify any of it! I don't know if it's fatal, but I don't expect much otherwise knowing it's the foot. I'm hoping its just some unfamiliar tranquilizing dart or some sort of stun or paralysis serum, but I simply cant tell! I'm currently still working on more tests, even as we speak. I'm afraid the best thing we can do right now is wait for him to wake up, and maybe he'll have more answers." "So let me get this straight. He got hit by some dart or something, but we don't know what happened or how, and it may or may not be fatal? Jesus Don! That doesn't give us much to go on!" Raph's voice rose as he spoke, and so did his heart rate.

"Look, I'm doing the best I can. We'll figure this out, it just may take a little bit of time."

"And what if we don't got time? How do you know that he ain't taking his last breaths right now?"

Mikey gulped and all heads instinctively whipped around to the living room.

"Don't worry, I've got him hooked up to a heart-rate monitor. If his heart rate drops, we'll know. But waiting is really the only thing we can do." Don watched as Raph glared. Don thought he looked like an angry bull ready to charge, with steam coming out of his nose and everything.

"Fine," he sad through gritted teeth, and stormed off back up to his room.

Don sighed and looked at the surprisingly silent Michelangelo. "I'm going to go tell Master Splinter. You ok?"

Mikey nodded . Don put his hand on his shoulder briefly before exiting the kitchen.

Once he was gone, Mikey also got up to leave, but instead headed for the living room. Slowly, he approached Leo's couch. His brother looked so old, almost ancient. His body, from what he could see, was filthy and dusty from lying in the dirty alley for hours. His bandana, its normal vibrant blue faded with dust, was tied loosely around his bruised face. His face was pale, which added to the ghost like appearance when mixed with the dirt. The color of his skin made the giant purple and black spots on his face only stand out more. Mikey could just barely see the edge f a particularly large one on the back of his head.

He grabbed the cold, lifeless hand that lay on top of the soft blankets. It was almost like de-ja-vu. He remembered the last two times Leo had looked like this. One such occasion being when he was stabbed by Karai. But that was different. He had recovered quickly and immediately turned to brooding over failure. Mikey prayed that wouldn't be the case this time. The other time being when Leo was ambushed by the Shredder.

Don stared blankly into space as he habitually poured himself a cup of coffee. He sat down at the table, and sank his head into his folded arms, not even interested in the coffee he'd just poured. He'd been up for hours trying to decode the blood samples. He'd pulled many all-nighters in the past, but none like this. For once his work had to be rushed and time-based, and on something that he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know the answer to. Plus, he was holding his brothers life in his hands. He buried his head lower into his hands as he thought.

He could feel his head spinning under the stress. All he wanted to do was let go, let go of everything, and drift some place far, far away….. Some place quiet…. With birds softly chirping…..and warm, cozy…blankets…...

The angry blaring of an alarm quickly jolted him out of his sleep. He instinctively jumped into the air, and almost got his foot wrapped around the chair. He stumbled forward a little bit, the table breaking his fall. _whatwasthat!_

A sudden panic filled him as realization dawned.

_Leo's heart-rate monitor!_

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><p><em>Please R&amp;R. I cant improve if you don't!<br>_


	10. Chapter 10

**So sorry for the amount of time it took to update this! My computer was down, along with all my documents. This isnt a very long chapter, but I wanted to at least get something out to you.**

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><p>A panicked scurrying erupted within the lair as the loud beeping went off. It was no where near the volume of some of their security alarms, but it was still loud enough to be heard for all house hold ears. Don came running out of the kitchen just as Raph emerged from the dojo, and Mikey and Master Splinter from their rooms.<p>

"My son, what is happening?"

"I don't know, it looks like his heart rate has picked up way above average," Don had already run over and shut off the alarm, and turned back to his brother. Leo seemed to be visibly gasping for air, despite his partially unconscious state.

"Donny?" asked Mikey nervously.

"Quiet Mikey, I'm trying to think," Don said, quite firmly.

Leo's breathing was increasing rapidly to an audible pant, much like someone suffering from a seizure.

"What's happening?" Raph panicked as he watched his older brothers body begin to tremble.

"I don't know! This doesn't make any sense!" said Don, checking his pulse.

Just as suddenly as everything had started, it all stopped. Leo's shaking and breathing were no longer rapid and sharp. He lay quite still.

Don paused for only a fraction of a second of a before returning to check his heart rate.

"What's going on? Is he alright? Is he breathing?" Mikey asked. His face had gone pale, and he himself sat on the ground at the foot of the couch, shivering slightly.

"As far as I can tell. His heart rate is back to normal and his breathing's steadied."

There was a momentary silence. Then-

"What the shell was that about? What are we dealing with here?" Raph yelled, making them all jump.

"Raph, I'm only going to ask you once to keep your voice down," replied Don, turning to his livid brother.

"No, I want to know what in the world we are dealing with here. You're the braniac, you know what your doing, so tell us." Raph jabbed his finger firmly into Dons plastron. It was swatted away instantly.

"You cant expect me to have all the answers all the time! I'm not a miracle worker and I'm not God, so lay off!" Dons voice skyrocketed and an icy chill ran down Mikey's spine. He had never, EVER heard his brother snap like that. Sure, he'd snapped a rare, few times before, but never like that. For a second he even thought Rah was going to lunge at Don. His eyes flashed ferociously and his body shook with rage, and he jerked a little bit forward, but he didn't move. A rather confused expression crossed his face. He whipped around to find the hand that was holding him back.

"That's enough Raph." Leo's grip, despite his exhausted state, held firmly to the angry ones wrist.


	11. Chapter 11

I am so sorry for how long this took me to do, my computer was completely down for weeks. I hope you didn't think that I had forgotten this. Enjoy!

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><p>Chapter 11<p>

Mikey knocked softly on his older brothers bedroom door. It had been a week since his accident, and although he appeared to be healing quite well, he slept a ton. It seemed like every time he went to see him, he was asleep.

Hearing no reply from within, Mikey assumed that this time was no different, but peered his head inside anyways. His room was spotless, as always, his swords leaning up against the foot of his bed. In the bed lay a sleeping Leo, who for as neat as his room was, his sleeping style was ironically not so much. He lay, flopped, half on the bed, half off. His broken left arm dangled precariously off the edge. His blankets were spewed all over the place, some even on the floor. It was clear by his tangled form that he'd been lashing about in his sleep.

Mikey quietly closed the door and headed back down to the kitchen, where an impatient Raph was waiting.

"Well, is he going or what?" he asked anxiously.

"I don't think so, he's zonked out in his room," Mikey replied.

"Again? He hasn't been to training in over a week! Even if he can't train he should at least come watch, or examine, or do all that annoying bossy stuff that he usually does."

"Hey, if is body needs rest, then it needs rest. I'm personally all in favor of him taking a little break after his ordeal. Normally nothing in the world would keep him off of his feet. This is good for him," said Don, setting his magazine down and getting up from the couch.

"Hmm. Well anyways, we better get going before the morning traffic starts," said Raph, and they left to meet Master Splinter on the roof for their morning run.

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><p>THUMP. Leo hit the floor and landed heavily on his broken arm. He woke up immediately and grabbed his arm, crying out in pain.<p>

_How the shell did I end up on the floor? _He clenched his teeth and held the searing arm, hoping that this would help subside the pain. It didn't.

He stood up and sat on the bed, suddenly feeling quite dizzy. The world spun at an alarming rate. He shut his eyes, praying for it to stop, but he only felt more light-headed than before.

Suddenly, he felt a tingly sensation wash through him. He tried to open his eyes, to move, but found that he was incapable of controlling his body. It was as if his consciousness had parted from his body, leaving him through his feet. He felt his limbs begin to tighten, and his muscles clench and shake.

After about 20 seconds, which felt like much longer, the pain started to dissipate. His body unlocked. The lightheadedness however, did not go away, and he found himself with the sticky predicament of needing to vomit.

Leaning forward, he tried to get up, or at least crawl himself out of his room. His muscles, however, were too exhausted to let him do more than fall foreword on his hands and knees. Feeling that he could make it no farther, he began to wretch all over the stone floor in front of his bed. It pooled in front of him, and before he could register the seriousness of the situation, he slipped into the depths of unconsciousness.


	12. Chapter 12

**Me? Forget about a story? Never. Enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 12<p>

"Ugghhh, I'm so sore, I think I'll drop dead if I walk another 5 feet," Mike complained as he flopped down onto the couch. Raph fell into the big red chair next to him and reclined back.

"Suck it up Mikey, we all hurt," said Raph, covering his face with his hands.

Don came in and fell down next to Mikey, nearly squashing his head, but Mikey moved out of the way just in time.

"I would sleep forever if I could," said Don. He was just settling in when Master Splinter walked in.

"Donatello, could you go check on your brother? I am going to take a nice long shower."

"Yes Sensei," Don replied. As soon as Splinter was out of ear shot he groaned and had use all his strength to push himself up from the couch. He used the railing to pull himself all the way up the stairs.

When he got to the top he had to walk all the way down to the end of the hall to where Leo's room was. Upon reaching the door he knocked.

No answer. Slowly, he opened the door and gasped in horror at the sight.

There were pools of vomit all over the floor. The catch? It was all deep crimson. His older brother lay at the foot of his bed. His uninjured arm was by his face, the injured one lay crushed underneath him. Most importantly, he wasn't moving.

"RAPH!" He yelled in an unnaturally high pitched, cracked voice.

Within seconds, despite his fatigue, Raph was by his side. He nearly slipped and fell as he ran into the room, and Don had to hold him back from plowing through the bloody vomit.

"Holy...Jeez!" said Raph. Both of them were too dumbstruck to move. After about 30 seconds of blank staring they snapped to their senses. "Oh my God what happened?" he asked, side stepping the throw-up.

"I have no idea!" replied Don. They reached Leo, and Don desperately searched for a pulse. He found one after just a few seconds.

"Yo Leo, wake up. Leo." said Raph, trying to shake him from his unconsciousness by patting his face slightly.

"It looks like he's past out cold," said Don.

"No shit sherlock-"

"Oh my God what happened? HOLY CRAP is that that blood?" Mikey shrieked as he appeared in the doorway.

"Mikey, leave, please," Don half growled in as calm of a voice as possible. He knew the site of vomit made Mikey sick, and he had enough problems to worry about.

"No, I-... I'll be right back," he said, running from the room with his hand over his mouth.

Raph turned his younger brother. "Don, we need to know whats going on. You need to figure that chemical in his blood out!"

"Its so easy for all of you to say that, you try. Do you think I've just been kicking back doing nothing? No! I've been trying to figure this out ever since we found him!"

"I know, I know!" Raph sighed. "Look, I know you're trying. I'm just really stressed and worried. I know your doing all you can do, it just doesn't seem to be enough. Look, I'm sorry I've been on your case a lot lately. I just cant shake the notion that all this is my fault. I don't know how to handle this."

Don side glanced up at him briefly. His brother seemed to be honest. "Its OK. I've been stressed too, obviously. If there really is something going on here that I cant fix, I don't know what I'll do." he stood up and started examining his oldest brother. Leo's face was quite pale. "C'mon, we need to get him into bed- wow!" Don pulled his hand back from Leo's arm like something had bit him.

"What? What is it?"

"His arm, its all slimy! Look!" He pulled the unbroken arm up so Raph could see.

"Wow, that looks like some really bad sweating!" he replied.

"But its not sweat, its something else his skin is secreting; something green and more mucus-like."

"It sure doesn't smell the greatest," said Raph.

"I'm going to take a sample to examine. Can you run down to my lab and grab one of the small viles on my shelf, second one on the left-hand side of the room?"

"Of course your highness," said Raph, jumping the red vomit again.

"Not the time for sarcasm, Raph." Don growled.

"I know, I know."

Once he was gone, Don continued his examining. He flipped his brother over and gently freed his broken arm from his heavy body. "Ooooh, that's going to hurt later." he mumbled to himself. He checked every part of his skin. The legs were covered more heavily with mucus than the arms, like a thick gooey coat. He had to wipe his palms on the floor to get it off.

Raph re-appeared moments later, vile in hand. "OK, got that thingy you wanted. Now what?"

"Bring it over here." Raph obeyed and ninja'd his way through the room once more.

Don took the vile from him and ran it up the side of his brothers shins, where the coat was thickest. It wasn't hard to get a good sample amount's worth even with one swipe.

"OK, I'm going to bring this back down to the lab and grab some cleaning supplied and a towel. Can you get him off the floor?" Don asked.

"On it," replied Raph. He was already lifting the sticky brother up into his bed. "Eww this stuff smells nasty. I'm going to need a shower after this."

"Yeah, and we haven't even began cleaning up this mess yet. Alright, be back," said Don as he ran out the door.

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><p>"Hey Mikey, how ya feelin'?" asked Raph as he walked into the kitchen, pulling a soda out of the fridge. He'd just left Don and Master Splinter upstairs to finish de-gooping their brother. All the vomit was finally cleaned up and he was exhausted.<p>

"Fine," replied Mikey, his chin resting on his folded arms at the table.

Raph sat down at the table next to him, opening the soda can with a click. He took a sip. "You know, Leo woke up for a few seconds earlier. He seemed OK, just tired and out of it."

"That's good," said Mikey, avoiding his gaze.

"Look, I know you've been a little overwhelmed and confused by all of this lately, we all have. You should go sit with him. Maybe he'll wake up soon."

"Aww Raphie, so sentimental," said Mikey with a slight smirk.

"More like 'Aww Mikey, so gloomy and depressed.' Go on and sit with him. I bet he's a good listener when he's unconscious. Plus he doesn't smell that bad anymore, I promise."

"Alright fine, as long as all the pukes cleaned up," said Mikey, pushing in his chair and leaving Raph alone with his soda. It was weird listening to him talk so sincerely and not chewing his head off for once.

He got to the top of the stairs and glanced in his brothers room.

"Hey, Mikey, how are you doing?" asked Don as he wrung out a wet towel into a bucket. Leo lay still on the bed, probably still unconscious.

"Good. Just came to see how things were going."

"Your brother seems to be sleeping well. He awoke at one point, but quickly fell back asleep. It has been a rough day," said Splinter. He too was at work, with his hands on Leo's forehead, trying to reach his son through what appeared to be meditation.

"Well, I think he should be all set. I'm going to go downstairs and take a look at those samples. If anything changes, just let me know," said Don. He put is hand on his younger brothers shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile before leaving.

"I think I will go too my son. This has been a very eventful day. I must meditate." With that said Splinter also left, leaving an unconscious Leo and a very uncomfortable Mikey alone.

Mikey walked over and sat on the floor next to the foot of the bed and leaned up against it, facing away from his brother.

"Its just you and me, buddy," whispered Mikey. He glanced down at his hands and sighed.

"Yup"

Mikey nearly jumped out of his shell. He whipped around. "Leo?"

Leo rolled his head to the side to glance at him, a slight smile tracing his face.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Not sure. I think since you came in and sat down."

"Well why didn't you say something?" said Mikey, quite flustered.

"I wanted to hear what you had to say. Whats on your mind?"

Mike sighed. He settled himself back down and went back to staring at his clasped hands. "I don't know. This whole situation is maddening. Don and Raph are at each others throats, Master Splinter is hardly present, and we have no idea whats going on with you! This family if falling apart."

"Ah Michelangelo, no offense to you, but your being a little over dramatic." Leo rolled onto his side. "Believe me, this family is not falling a part. I mean sure, things are a little strange right now, but they will get better. Just give it time. Everything falls into place at some point or another. Now help me up."

"Are you kidding me? Don would kill me if he thought I helped you move an inch!"

"Well then, its better if we just pretend that I just got up by myself, don't you think?" he slowly pulled the blankets off and swung his legs around to the front of the bed.

"You cant be serious? How are you feeling well enough to walk?"

"M not, but oh well." He pushed himself up slowly into a crouched position and very slowly stood up.

"Oh my God, Don's going to kill me. Wait, did you shrink?"

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><p><strong>R&amp;R really, really helps things move along quicker, so please comment!<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Lets just face it, I make too many excuses as to why I didn't update sooner, so we'll just skip those and focus on updating faster in the future. **

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><p>Mikey raised and eye brow, sizing his brother up.<p>

"No. What are you talking about?" asked Leo, raising the eye brow back.

Mikey took a step closer and placed a hand on his older brother. "Stand up straight," he said. Leo was a little surprised by his younger siblings commanding tone, but obliged the best he could.

"You're barely taller than me!" said Mikey.

"I've always been barely taller than you. Raph's the tallest, remember?What are you getting at?"

Mikey stared for a few seconds, questioning, then shook it off. "Nothing. Never mind. Anyway, you seriously need to get back into bed." He walked over to the bed and lifted up the covers. "If Don finds out I'm- Hey, where'd-ja go?" He spun around only to find that his brother was no linger right behind him. He ran into the hallway, only to find him attempting to stumble his way down the stairs, clinging onto the railing for dear life.

"Leo! Get back up here, Don's going to murder me!"

Suddenly Donny popped out of his room, lab coat on and everything. "Why am I going to murder you- Leo! What are you doing out of bed?" he yelled, placing whatever small device he had in his hand down on the table as he came running to the stairs to help his 18 year old brother.

"I'm fine! Seriously, would everyone stop making this such a big deal? I'm really feeling much better," said Leo, attempting to swat away Don and Mikey's hands and keep his balance at the same time. In all honesty, he felt quite dizzy.

"This really isn't good for you Leo, you just woke up! You need to go back upstairs right now! I'm not playing around. If you wont move your shell than we'll just have to carry you up."

Leo turned to face his braniac brother. The icy stare he was giving was cold and demanding, not to mention unmovable. He was dead serious.

Leo sighed. "Fine Donny, I'll go rest for an hour or two, but that's it." He pushed past the two of them. "You cant keep me up here!" he yelled over the railing once he got to the top and disappeared into his room.

"Is he delirious or something?" asked Mikey, turning to his glaring brother. This was crazy! One minute their older brother is passed out on the floor in a pool of bloody vomit, and the next minute he's unruly, defiant, and cant be contained! They all knew Leo to be stubborn, and that he didn't like to be held back from anything, but his bizarre bout of illness didn't seem to even phase him for more than two minutes!

"Well you know Leo, cant stay down for anything. We're going to have to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't over exert himself."

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><p>The next morning did not go as planned. Ever since their brothers return and recovery, they had been holding off on their morning exercises and practices, choosing only to train at night. This morning, though, things were different.<p>

Raph had stumbled into the kitchen at ten o'clock, only to find Leo already sitting in his usual spot at the table, sipping away at a cup of tea, glaring him down.

"What?" asked Raph, stopping in the doorway.

"Training, Raph. Training." said Leo, taking another sip of his steaming tea with his one good arm.

"Are you kidding? You've been out of it for a week and you automatically assume us to jump straight back into training? Especially you; you can barely stand up straight!"

"I can stand, AND train just fine. We need to pick up where we left off before you guys become too sluggish-" he looked over and noticed that Raph had grabbed a soda and four pieces of pizza from the fridge for breakfast. He glared harder.

"Look Splinta' Junior, as soon as Don is convinced you can effectively hold your own in a fight, then maybe we can begin training again. But until then, you need rest."

"Why is everyone telling me what to do all of a sudden? Since when did I get demoted from leader? I'm eighteen years old, not ten. I can do what I want... Well... unless Master Splinter says otherwise."

Raph felt slightly taken aback. Within the past day, he had noticed the tiniest bit of change in Leo's attitude. It was like he was pushing against the will of others, not even wanting to consider what they were trying to tell him and that it was for his own good. He was getting more stubborn, if possible.

"Whatever. Just... ah never mind," said Raph, waving away the argument. Normally he loved going at it with his older brother, but this morning he was not in the mood to loose, or give up his delicious breakfast.

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><p>"No Leo, you cannot train."<p>

"But why not Don? I can run, I can jump, I can flip, I can kick."

"Not until you're completely back to normal. I don't want any relapses. Besides, we still need to talk about your passing out and sweating slime! And hows your arm?" called Don as Leo began walking up the stairs.

"Fine. Feels great," he lied, scratching at the bandages. "Seriously, you guys cant keep me from training. I know your only trying to help but...I'm fine. Honest."

Mikey looked up from his comic as he saw Leo retreat up the stairs, yelling down to Don. The two had been going at it quite a bit lately, but not as much as him and Raph. It had been two days since Leo had his "accident" and things had definitely returned to normal. Well, except for the training, obviously. Leo and Raph were butting heads like usual, maybe even a little bit worse.

Mikey still knew that Raph had some bottled up guilt from the whole accident on the roof, which was what started this whole ordeal to begin with. However, most of that guilt seemed to be doused under his desire to go and leave the lair again. Now Mikey had two strong headed brothers; one who wanted to train but wasn't allowed by the family, and one who wanted to get out of the lair but wasn't allowed to because of the leader of the team. It set the lair in absolute tension.

Once he heard Leo's door slam, he put down the comic and turned to Don. "What has gotten into him? I don't get it. He's getting all defiant just like when he wanted to get involved in that Purple Dragon/Foot Ninja/Mobsters incident a few years back. Remember? He wouldn't take nothin' from nobody then."

"Oh trust me, I remember. Having two defiant brothers was definitely not fun, having to choose sides was definitely worse," replied Don. He grimaced as he heard a strangled grunt come from the dojo. "I think Leo and Raph are at it again."

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't know, I can just sense the tension in the room every time they are around each other. Haven't you noticed? You could cut through the air with a knife."

"Yeah, but its not like the two have any reason to be mad at each other, Leo just woke up! What could have possibly happened within two days?"

"I have a theory, but I don't want Raph to hear and smash my head in," he stepped closer to Mikey's chair. "I think he's feeling some guilt. I honestly don't believe he should feel guilty, but you know Raph..." Don whispered under his breath.

Mikey considered this for a minute. Raph, feeling guilty? That was impossible, right? It would never happen! Not in a million, billion, trillion...

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><p><strong>R&amp;R PLEASE!<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

Ok, here's more!

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><p>As soon as his bedroom door was closed tightly behind him and locked, Leo turned to the wall and gently rested his head on it, sighing deeply. It was all confusion. He felt fine! And now his family was treating him like their little patient. And he was the leader!<p>

He turned his shell to the wall and sunk to the floor, one arm resting on his knees, the broken one in his lap. He tried to think from their point of view. They were concerned. Apparently he'd been really sick, but he couldn't remember most of it. But what did that matter? He was fine now. His arm may be broken, but he could still do a lot.

Then there was a whole other set of issues. Mysterious green slime? It was unlike anything he'd ever heard of before. But he still felt fine. Better than fine, actually. He felt great!

He stood up suddenly from the floor and punched the wall with his good arm. He could feel all the frustration and tension he'd felt from his brothers just flow out of him with that one punch. The weak stone crumbled slightly beneath his fist. There was a knock at the door and Leo spun around.

"Ummm, hey Leo? Can we talk?" came Mikey's timid voice from the other side.

Leo looked over at the soft-ball sized indent in the wall. If he had the door wide open, Mikey wouldn't see it. "Yeah come in."

Mikey opened the door cautiously and Leo casually pushed it back against the wall.

"Leo, what was that noise?" he asked curiously.

Leo went over and sat on his bed, picking at his wrapped arm. "What noise?"

"I thought I heard you hit something."

"Oh, well I dropped a book a few minutes ago. Maybe you heard that." he replied, still looking down at his bandages.

"Hmm. Anyway, I talked to Master Splinter. Donny and Raph don't know so don't tell them, but I asked his opinion on you coming back to training. He said that if you can just wait it out a day or two and if you're up for it, he'll let you start training again, given that your still feeling better." said Mikey, sitting himself on the bed next to his older brother.

Leo let out a sigh. He was both happy and a little confused. He was relieved that he would be aloud to train again. It had been over a week since he'd trained, since before the Foot had captured him. He felt confused that he was the one stuck in this situation, instead of being the one to comfort or reassure one of his younger brothers.

"Thanks Mikey," he said half-heatedly.

"Whats wrong? I thought you'd be thrilled!" he said.

"I am. I am," he placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder and turned back to look at his feet. "I just feel like I've fallen down in the chain of command. No one listens. I'm supposed to be the strong older brother, and now no one will leave me alone!"

Mikey felt a little hurt by this. He was, after all, the youngest, and he'd never thought of that as a bad thing. But apparently Leo had different ideas about being treated like a younger sibling. "Come on Leo, we're all just worried you'll over exert yourself. We all know what you're like, nothing can keep you down, and that's why we're all trying so hard to protect you, because sometimes you're your own worst enemy."

Leo felt slightly lightened by this. At least his family still thought of him as the pain-in-the-ass they couldn't hold down. "Thanks Mikey."

"No problem. You'll be back to training in no time. And knowing you, you'll be driving us into the ground harder than ever." He gave his brother a toothy half smile as he rose from the bed and clapped him on the shoulder.

Leo returned the half smile as Mikey left his room. It was nice to see the serious side to his comedian brother. It was very, very, very rare when Leo actually opened up and voiced how he felt, but when he did, he felt comforted that there would always be Mikey, the funny guy, to take him seriously.

A tinkling crash echoed throughout the lair, resembling the sound of a smashed glass. It was instantly followed by a girlish squeal and the pattering of feet. "Raph did it!"

* * *

><p>The clang of metal rang out through the dojo, something he hadn't heard in over a week, and boy did it sound good. He could feel the sweaty mats beneath his feet, hear the panting of his brothers by his side. Everything was back to normal.<p>

"Leonardo, you will now turn to spar with Raphael. Donatello, you and Michelangelo will spar," ordered Splinter.

Leo had been back to training for about three days. It had been exactly a week since his "episode" and he felt fully back to normal. His strength had returned as well as his energy.

"Ah, I see you're feeling completely better now. Now I wont feel guilty about taking your shell out!" jeered Raph.

Leo returned his words with a sneer. The two hadn't sparred at all since the accident However, just because he'd barely trained in two weeks didn't mean that any of his skill was gone, or his tactics. "Bring it."

The brothers each pulled out their weapon. Leo could only use one because of his bad arm, so Raph did the same to even the odds, much to the older brothers dismay. They readied themselves into a fighting stance. Leo briefly saw something flash before his brothers eyes. He couldn't place the look. Regret? Anger? He couldn't tell, but he liked to pretend it was fear.

His brother made the first move, charging at full speed with his sais outright, hoping to catch his opponent off guard.

Leo of course saw this coming, and deflected his sais easily to the right. Next was his turn, and he jumped and aimed a kick square in Raph's chest. Raph ducked flat down to his stomach and Leo went flying over his head, landing nimbly in a one handed crouching cat pose. The two, who had their backs to each other, turned around instantly and their weapons met with a clang.

"Ya tired yet, Fearless?" Raph hissed as they tested the strength of their weapon.

Leo quickly unlocked his katana and stepped back. He knew better than to keep his swords in Raph's katana snapping sais for too long. "I'm just getting warmed up."

To their left, they heard Donny getting his butt whooped. Leo really wished that his nerdy brother would spend more time practicing and less time in the lab.

"So, question for ya," said Raph.

"Ya?" Leo replied. He was breathing rather heavy, but still full of energy.

"I was wonderin' when we could go topside again...?" Raph's tone was casual, but Leo could tell he really, really wanted the answer.

"Not until we've figured out what the Foot are up to," Leo replied sternly.

"Well we sure as shell ain't going to figure that out down here!" Raph's voice was stating to raise slightly, as was his temper, as it always did while they wer practicing, but he tried his best to keep it calm and casual.

"We just have to wait for some sort of signal. As long as they arn't causing havoc up there, then we're staying down here until further notice." Leo tried to keep his voice firm and steady as he rapid fired attacks on his brother.

"But what about all that stuff that's not in front of the public. We know their up to something, and we cant just let that go ignored, whether its visible or not!" Raph was definitely starting to loose his temper at this point, and Leo was only fueling the fire as his steady attacks began to slow. He decided to use this to the best of his advantage.

"We cant risk the safety of this family on mere suspicion." Leo deflected an attack to his right. He was now on pure defense.

"Mere suspicion? Who are you kidding Leo, this is the Foot we're talking about! There's no question about it!" Raph swept his older brothers leg and sent his crashing to the floor on his shell. He meant to lunge for Leo but the attack was blocked by the katana, and he was shoved off. Leo made his way shakily to his feet. He was breathing quite hard.

"I just don't want us to charge into something stupidly and blindly. You know as well as I that those situations never turn out well-"

Raph had had enough. He growled at Leo and ran forward. Leo just barely blocked the sais aimed at his head, but lost his balance and the two went toppling to the floor. Raph rolled on top and positioned his fist up above his head, ready to take his brother out when he noticed something wasn't quite right. He say a look of dread flash before Leo's eyes and realized instantly that his brother was stone cold. Raph rolled off his still form instantly.

"Leo?" he asked, taping his unresponsive brothers face lightly. Leo did nothing but stare blankly at the ceiling for about two seconds.

Suddenly, he grimaced in pain. Raph could see him clench his teeth together as he grabbed his head. His back arched on the floor, his eyes rolled upward.

"Whoa buddy! Oh my God, Donny!" Raph yelled across the room as he placed a hand on his brother chest, trying to steady him.

Donny picked up on the tone reactively and sprinted over, Mikey on his heels. He threw his bo staff to the other side of the room as he knelt next to Raph.

"Don I think its another episode! I don't know what happened! He was fine one minute and then he started getting really tired and then he just collapsed!" Both brothers tried to steady their slimy brother as Mikey watched in the back ground.

Without warning, Leo rolled over and heaved all the contents of his stomach. Don tried to lift him up from around the middle so that he could breath better. Dark red chunks blasted the floor and stained the mats. It was like a waterfall that just kept on coming.

"Easy Leo, easy. Deep breaths." Donny tried soothing, but he could hear his brothers raspy intakes of breath. He gagged and threw up some more. His body was shaking and soaked, almost literally dripping with ooze that was secreting all around his flesh. Donny could feel the ice cold body of his brother as it trembled within his grasp."Don't worry, bro, everything's going to be fine. It's all going to be just fine." At this rate, he wasn't sure who he was talking to; Leo, his terrified brothers and Master, or himself.

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><p><strong>R&amp;R PLEASE! (Don't worry, more will be explained in the next chapter)<strong>


	15. Rebels, Runaways, and Revelations P1

Sorry I took so long to update, and sorry it looks so dense. This piece took me AWHILE and I did A LOT of editing and fine-tuning, so please read it all, because theres a lot of detail. Hope you like it (my favorite chap. so far) Enjoy! and please R&R!

Rebels, Runaways, and Revelations (Part 1)

Donatello's mind spun at the sight of his writhing brother. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before, except for maybe in a cheap sci-fi flick where the human turns into a werewolf or an alien. But Leo wasn't transforming, he just looked like he couldn't breath and was forming himself some sort of sticky cocoon. Worse yet, the sounds emitting from him between the gags were like that of a dying animal; some sort of horse maybe.

Meanwhile, Mikey screamed as Don continued to hold the shockingly light eldest. Raph just stood there awestruck.

"Well don't just stand there, help me!" Don barked in Raph's direction very uncharacteristically. Raph whipped his head around like he'd just been punched while sleeping.

"What-what? Well tell me what to do!" he snapped back.

"Start by holding his feet down before he kicks somebody. Master Splinter, would you mind running and grabbing a bucket of warm water and a towel?"

Their master nodded solemnly and hurried to fetch the supplies. Less than a minute or two later he returned, surprisingly fast for an old rat. But by that point Leo had already ceased writhing and squirming. He just lay there, unconscious and breathing heavily on the floor before his startled brothers.

"Donatello, am I too late?"

"No Sensei, your fine. He just stopped, which is a good thing." Don sat back on his knees as he spoke, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead. Raph sat back on his knees too, head in hands. Mikey assumed his usual position of standing away from the group, gaping awkwardly like a fish out of water.

* * *

><p>"Yo Donny, Mike made dinner. Ya coming?" Raph asked as he pounded on the giant steel door to the lab. The ringing sound echoed throughout the lair, but no answer came from within. "Don?" He leaned his head up against the door, listening for any sign that his brother was at work inside. Upon hearing nothing he slowly slid the door open just a crack and peered inside.<p>

"Donny?"

He pushed the door all the way to the side, seeing the back of his purple banded brothers head, presumably staring at papers grasped tightly in his hands. His shoulders were rounded and tense. His whole body (from the back) looked tight and strained, especially his neck, which pulsed with threads of veins. If mutant turtles had the ability to crawl completely inside their shells, Raph was pretty sure Don would have.

Slowly, as if the sound of the door opening had been a cue, Don turned around to face his brother, revealing a shocked face plastered with absolute horror. His jaw was open and his eyes were wide as tennis balls.

"...Raph..." he said slowly and shakily, apparently trying to find the words to explain the revelation on the papers in his hands.

Raph's heart fell to his stomach as he put two-and-two together; the only reason Don could be this freaked. Leo. He looked over to the sectioned off curtain cubical in the corner of the lab.

"Raph...we... have a problem." Don was clearly struggling to wrap his big brain around the scientific data.

"What is it Donny?" Raph growled.

"I-I figured out why there was a chemical scramble in his DNA. Why...no, _what_ was throwing me off."

"Ok, spit it out," He replied slowly.

"Well, its kind of complicated. I don't completely under-"

"Spit it out Don!"

"Its rewinding!" Don shrieked. Raph raised an eyebrow slightly at this.

Don finally lost it into a fit of hysterics.

"His DNA, his cells, his tissue- EVERYTHING is reversing itself. Do you get it Raph? Everything is going backwards!" he used his hands to exaggerate time moving behind him. In Raph's opinion he looked quite demented. "He's getting younger! Well, so to speak."

Raph stared at him blankly for a moment, his mouth wide open to catch flies. "... say what?"

"Its like I said. Everything in his body is rewinding; unraveling. Everything from his body composition to brain chemistry, near as I can tell. But get this; its like, I don't know, a clock or something. You know how time is always moving but its not officially the next hour until it's... well, the next hour? And when that hour comes a chime or something goes off? Well, that's what he's doing! Its like he's always getting younger, cells are changing and mutating all the time, but his body doesn't actually expel all the waste as it goes. It sits in his system until something "clicks" and its all suddenly secreted at once! It's genius! And that's what the spasms he's had are about, Raph. Its his body's way of reversing itself!"

By this point Don had his arms up in the air exasperatedly, trying to get Raph to understand the complexity of the situation.

Raph just stared at him, expression blank, mouth still open. "You're mad!" he croaked as he took in his brothers striking expression and clown-like pose.

Don dropped his arms, frustrated. "Seriously Raph! Take a look at him for yourself! Don't believe me? Well here's your proof! Don stormed over to the corner of the lab and pulled back the light blue curtain.

Leo lay stretched out, clearly unconscious, on a hospital bed (where Don got it no one knew). From a distance he looked no different than he always had, just quite pale. But as Raph stepped closer to the bed he was able to identify the differences Donny had been talking about.

Leo's face, now clean from the greenish goop, was clean and tight against his skull, like that of a child. His face was mask-less, making it look more unrecognizable. Raph couldn't quite put a finger on one particularly, but his features seemed to have...changed; become less defined. He couldn't explain it, but Leo's face definitely looked younger.

"Told you," Don hissed beside him. Raph stepped back silently and closed the curtain once more. He then turned sharply and walked toward a blank wall in the lab, staring contemplatively off into the stone, breathing heavily.

"What do we do now Don?" he finally asked, back still turned.

Don, who had briefly forgotten the reason for his previous panicking, immediately fell back on it. "I don't know! I can say, wholeheartedly, that I have NO idea what to do."

"Cant you just... I don't know, do your scientist thing and come up with an antidote or somethin'?" Raph asked as he turned back around to face his brother.

"You don't get it, its not that simple. We're talking about reversing a natural, biological process; a bodily function- again! The worst part is the time restraint. Who knows how long it will be until he stops...you know, getting younger? You can only get so young, Raph. What will be left of him?" Don was starting to go into hysterics again; hyperventilating.

Raph walked over to him and put both hands on his shoulders, shaking him hard. "Get a grip, Don-"

Raph was cut off by a punch square in the jaw. He stumbled back a little and grabbed the lab desk for balance. The punch hadn't been hard at all, but it had caught him off guard.

"Raph!" Donny exclaimed almost instantly as he rushed to his side, turning his face toward him to examine the wound. "Oh shit, Raph, I'm so sorry!"

Raph swatted Dons hand away. He didn't like peoples hands near his face. "Eh, don't worry about it. Ya punch like a girl." he said. He shifted his jaw back and forth. Not too bad. "No more blown fuses, though. Got it? I don't want a broken face. Now, we're going to figure this out. We will. We just have to keep our wits about us."

Don chuckled innocently at this. Raph? Were these words really coming out of_ his_ mouth? He kind of sounded like Leo...

"Whoever did this has to know how to reverse it. The Foot; that's where we'll start. I for one am _very_ excited for some good old quality time with the Foot." Raph's eyes burned dangerously as he growled the last part. Yup, it was still Raph.

"Wait, we still need to tell Mikey. How are we going to do that? I don't think he's going to take the news very well," said Don. He knew their master could handle it. But Mikey?

"Might as well go tell him now. No sense in waiting until things get critical, and we'll need his help."

"And Leo?"

Raph stiffed a little at this. He did NOT want to be the one to have to tell his leader that he was reverting back into a child. He was pretty sure that would just about crush every sense of pride and dignity in him.

"...eh, he doesn't have to know quite yet. He's still unconscious, and there's no point in waking him up."

Deep down, Don knew Raph was right. He knew this might just be the breaking point for old fearless. He could see it now: Leo resorting back into his dark and moody self as rediscovered teenage angst sets in.

The two nodded at each other; a wordless agreement that neither would say a word until the time was right. A silent prayer also passed between the two that he wouldn't find out before then.

They left the lab, dreading the conversation they were going to have to have with their sensei and younger brother, and even more, the one they were going to eventually have with their older brother.

It passed unbeknownst to them that he had already overheard their every word.

* * *

><p>Don stared into the shocked face of his two family members sitting stiffly on the couch. Raph stood next to him on his right as a source of support.<p>

Master Splinter sighed deeply, closed his eyes, and pulled his walking stick up to rest on his knees. He processed the news much like Raph had; silently in his own head. "How much time do we have my son?"

"I have no idea Master, although I do have a theory. As I said, his body seems to be reversing in cycles. My best guess would be that every cycle is compared to a year, but of course this is only a theory with no evidence or support. It merely seems like something the Foot would do because it has an exact timeline. If this is indeed the case, then that would make Leo's body composition equivalent to that of when he was sixteen. Thus, we essentially have a sixteen year old brother."

Michelangelo's jaw still hung open just like Raph's had. "I have a younger brother!" he blurted out excitedly, the fact finally clicking in his brain.

Raph glared him down, stepping in front of Don. "This is serious Mikey!" He clenched his fists. "Why don't you try being serious, for once I your life!"

Don saw Raph looking ready to charge Mikey. "Whoa whoa whoa, easy Raph," he said, side-stepping him. "But Raph's right Mikey, this is serious. With it being an age reversal, its all going to come to an end at some point. I have limited time to try and reverse the effects, and if my theory is correct, then we have just under sixteen weeks to sixteen weeks to stop this. That's roughly four months."

"How do you figure that" asked Mikey.

"Well, the first 'transformation,' as we'll call it, happened exactly one week after he was captured by the Foot, and this one was exactly one week after that one. So that's eighteen, minus a year, minus another year, puts us at sixteen. Thus, sixteen weeks left, assuming every week is a year."

"Does he look any different Donny?" asked Mikey. If what Don was saying was true, then they wouldn't have seen much of a change in the seventeen year old Leo.

"A little. Just slightly younger, like we all looked when we were sixteen."

"Less manly," Raph added.

"And he's probably shorter, I'm guessing. Remember that growth spurt he had the summer of our sixteenth year? Of course, I wont know for sure until he stands up."

"So he still isn't awake yet my son?"

"No Sensei. Last time I checked he was out-like-a-light," Don replied confidently as he stared into his fathers soft, dark, worried eyes. He knew what he was thinking. "We arn't going to tell him quite yet; not until we have all the details and we've come up with the right way to explain everything."

"He will not take this information well Donatello."

"I know, father."

* * *

><p>Mikey bounded up the stairs toward his room, taking the steps two at a time, Klunk following at his heels. A swirl of mixed emotions tossed and turned in his stomach, and none of them were emotions he very much cared for. He could easily detect worry and anxiety as the ring leaders, but there was something else; something he couldn't quite identify with: responsibility? Was that it?<p>

If that was it, then it sure was a heavy feeling, and he wasn't quite sure he liked it.

He shoved his door open with his shoulder and Klunk ran inside. Flicking on the light switch he flopped down beside the feline. The blankets were warm and comforting, and with Klunk curling up on his chest, it wasn't long before he began to drift off into a light slumber, wanting nothing more than to escape the odd new feeling, this heavy new situation.

**…**

"Mikey!"

He awoke with a start, whipping off the pillow ad throwing Klunk off by accident. He wiped the gunk out of his eyes. _How long have been out_? He thought to himself. He checked the clock; 7:12 pm. _I couldn't have been out for more than twenty minutes!_ There was shouting downstairs and suddenly the evenings bad news came flooding back to him.

"This cant be good."

"Mikey, get your shell down here now!"

The usually relaxed Donatello sounded angry, so Mikey quickly got up, opened the door, and tramped down the stairs.

"Geez guys, whats going on? I was sound asleep!" he said, still pinching the gunk out from the corners of his eyes.

"Leo's gone missing," said Don as he walked briskly out of the lab.

"What? But I was only out for a few minutes and he's already run off? I thought he said he was unconscious, and probably would be for awhile!" said Mikey, slightly aghast that Leo had managed to wake up and slip out (undetected) all after a major collapse and still not get caught. He knew when Don got his hands on him he'd be in for it.

"He wasn't _supossed_ to be awake for awhile, but like I've said before, not a lot holds Leo back," said Don.

"Well maybe he's just gone over to April and Casey's?"

"I already called. Case said they haven't heard from him at all," they heard Raph say as he presumably hung up the phone and stepped out of the kitchen.

"But we're not supposed to go outside, so what do we do?" asked Mikey.

"Well obviously we have to go look for him. I don't care what his stupid excuse was, even he shouldn't be outside," replied Raph. There was no way he was going to let his oldest now youngest brother off the hook from this.

"I'm still shocked he made it out in his condition," added Don.

"Raphael," all heads turned as Splinter hobbled into the room. "Donatello's point is one you should be weary of. Your brother is not well, and he must be found. I will not allow any of my sons to go out on their own. You must go together, and bring your brother home."

Splinter registered their grave expressions, and they nodded solemnly. They were NOT going to return empty handed.


	16. Rebels, Runaways, and Revelations P2

**Ok guys, so I plan on having a new chapter up by every Friday of each week. So here you go, more fun! By the way, there is some slight swearing in this one. Hope you enjoy, and please review. Its very much appreciated. **

Rebels, Runaways, and Revelations (Part 2)

Raphs palms held firmly to the slick rooftop as he peered crossly over the edge. His bandana tails flapped ferociously in the wind of the storm as a loud clap of thunder radiated overhead.

_Great,_he thought to himself. _Just bloody perfect. Why do storms ALWAYS come at the WORST POSSIBLE TIMES?_

He groaned inwardly. He had wanted to take his bike to speed up the process, but had decided that this was would be the more stealthy approach. Don had also pointed out that he'd be a moving conductor, so he opted out of it.

They had been looking for their older brother nearly two hours now with no sign of him. But in this weather, Raph was sure Leo would have to be insane to stay outside. Against their better judgment, the brothers had decided to stick together rather than split up and face an ambush. Master Splinter had given them strict orders to keep close to one another and stay focused. They were not about to disobey him in the midst of a crisis.

Raph turned and jumped to the next rooftop. Don pulled up and took the lead so Raph and Mikey could scan the alleyways as they went. Nothing. Even the roads and sidewalks were barren, as nobody dared venture into the storm.

"Any luck?" Don called back behind him.

"Nothing," replied Raph.

"He couldn't have gotten that far-" said Mikey.

"This is Leo we're talking about," replied Raph.

"Yes, but it's also an injured Leo. He should be close. It's his ability to hide that's the problem," added Don.

"Well it's a good thing I'm the hide-and-seek champion!" said Mikey. He took a sudden turn and jumped from the rooftop. He swung down from the bars from apartment ladders and touched down, the other two close behind. "Now, where does Leo usually hide?"

Raph thought about it for a minute, arms crossed he remembered them all playing in the lair as children. When it came to hiding, all of them were very different about their approach.

Mikey, although not necessarily recognized as the braniac of the bunch, always seemed to find the most creative and unique hiding places out of the four of them, including the disgusting places none of them wanted to venture.

Don, despite his vast knowledge, always saw the tact in hiding right out in the open; right where no one would expect you to be.

As for himself and Leo, they tended to be more of the shadow dwelling type, always finding the beauty and seeking comfort in places where no one could see you, but you could see them.

"Mike, check behind that dumpster," Raph ordered.

Mikey ran over and poked his head behind the stinking crap box. "Nothing."

"Anything Don?"

"Nope."

"Wait, guys," he paused as it hit him. "The sewers," he grumbled to himself quietly. "He probably never even left the sewers!"

"What?"

"Oh my gosh, you're probably right! What if he assumed we'd come looking for him up here and is still camped out below ground?" asked Mikey.

Don nodded and they ran deeper into the alleyway. They stopped once they reached the closest manhole. "Ready?"

"Duh," was Mikey's reply. Don took that as a yes and lifted the lid.

Their feet splashed down into the murky brown sewer water as they hit bottom. The putrid scent hit their noses like a punch. This wasn't a route they traveled often, and for good reason.

"Uugh that's rank!" spat Mikey, holding his hands over his face.

"Suck it up, pansy," said Raph. Coincidentally, he too had his own arm over his face.

"Enough guys. Lets go."

They padded, deathly silent, towards what they hoped would be some sort of right direction, only stopping when they came to a three-way intersection.

"Now where?"

"I don't know, Mike. Straight maybe?"

"Wait, guys, this is stupid. There's three tunnels, three of us. Comprendo?" asked Raph impatiently.

"But Master Splinter said to stay together!" piped Mikey.

"Yeah, but we're not exactly covering much territory together, are we? And I don't now about you, but I'm sick of this smell. I say we just split up, find him, and drag him home."

"And if we get ambushed?" questioned Don in a very mothering tone.

"Come on, if there were Foot down here we'd know already. They would have zoomed in on our missing comrade and we'd have heard the fight a mile away."

"He's probably much farther than a mile radius Raph!" yelled Don.

"Whatever. I'm splitting off. I'll call you if I find him!" he pointed to the shell cell stuck to his belt as he ran down the right tunnel. Don sighed; the thing wasn't even turned on.

"Soooo what do we do now?" asked Mikey.

Don sighed. "I guess he's right, but Master Splinter will have a-"

"Ok C'ya!" yelled Mikey, completely cutting Don off as he ran down the left tunnel.

Don face-palmed and groaned before walking alone off into the tunnel straight ahead.

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><p>Raph's eyes had to adjust as he sloshed through the pitch black tunnel. This one was darker, being void of above ground sewer grates or really any form of lighting. It was deffenately not a path frequented by human workers. The water was cleaner here, though, and less of a burden on the nose.<p>

His eyes were not adjusting as fast as he would have liked. He wanted to call out to his missing brother but refrained, in fear of scaring him away. Instead, he continued to slosh through the water, listening hard as he could for any noise that would lead him toward Leo.

And then he head a voice so icy and deep it could have frozen the water encasing his feet.

"Don't..move..a muscle."

Raph stopped dead, breathing silently. "Leo?"

There was a pause. "Raph?"

Confused, Raph tried to force his sight through the impenetrable darkness. He kicked himself mentally for not even thinking of bringing along any sort of light source. "Leo, where are you?" he hissed.

"Over here," the voice sighed. He sounded tired.

Raph turned toward the voice and was finally able to make out a dark figure holding two katana. He saw the figure place the katana back into their sheath, lean against the wall, and slide down. Raph walked over to him cautiously. He reached out and was able to grab his shoulder. It was surprisingly cold and smooth to the touch.

"Leo, what the SHELL are you doing out of the lair?" he roared. "Acting rash is supposed to me my thing, NOT YOURS!"

Leo said nothing, his breathing heavy and raspy.

"Well?"

"I'm... turning into a child," he said softly.

Raph was shocked. Leo wasn't supposed to know. How did he find out? He crouched down to what he assumed to be eye-level with his brother. "Leo... how...we... we didn't think it was the right time to tell you. We thought you were still out of it. We were going to tell you once we thought you were ready to hear it. And this-" he beckoned to the rest of the sewer. "This is why."

"But _why_ didn't you tell me?"

"I said it already! We thought you were unconscious!"

"Big mistake!"

"Obviously!"

The two were silent and still for a moment. Raph suddenly noticed the pressure with which he held Leo's shoulder and eased up slightly. Leo's breathing got heavier and then silent. Dead silent. All of a sudden, there was a loud grunt and a heavy "THWACK" from the far end of the tunnel.

Leo turned to Raph. "Please tell me Mikey and Don arn't down here with you?"

There was another "THWACK," a piercing shriek, and heavy splash. "Oh shit," Raph cursed. He leaned over and wrapped his arm around his brothers shell and hoisted him up. He felt him sway unsteadily under the sudden disposition of weight as Raph supported him. "Alright lean on me."

For once, Leo allowed himself to be helped. It was the only way he could get to his brothers fast enough.

Together, they trudged through the slimy water. "Watch out for that pipe," Leo whispered faintly in his ear.

"What pipe?" asked Raph. Clearly his brother had better night vision.

"The one right there!"

"Where?"

"Wait, is that a bo staff?"

"I don't know!"

"It is! It looks like Don's bo!" Leo cried as he gently released himself from Raph's support and inched his way toward the bo floating in the water. He bent down and picket it up, leaning on it for support. A series of cries rang out through the tunnels.

"We're close. Come on Leo!" called Raph. He stumbled his way blindly over to Leo's outline and Leo leaned up against him again, using the bo staff for added support as they walked as quickly as possible through the water.

The clashes, bangs, grunts, and screams got louder with every corner they rounded. Raph could feel his brother sagging with exhaustion in every step they took, but Leo never complained (not that he would) and they kept moving. They were just about to turn another corner when randomly, a body flew through he air and landed at their feet. Raph nearly tripped over the body but caught himself just in time. Leo, on the other hand, fell to his knees when Raph let go of him out of surprise, and collapsed in the water next to the body.

"Leo!" yelled Raph. He quickly bent down, picked up his elder sibling and the bo staff, and threw him over his shoulder. _Damn he's light, _he thought.

He ran around the corner. There was Don, in the midst of trying to hold off five Foot ninja at once, ten more waiting to fill in the spots of those Don managed to throw off. There was a storm drain just above his head, and Raph was thankful for the little light it allowed, even through the storm outside. A flash of lightning lit the whole sewer tunnel, and Raph could see another group of Foot ninja springing to join their buddies.

"Don!" he yelled. He pulled one of the sai's from his belt and threw it at the nearest ninja battling Don. The sai hit the ninja in the thigh and he crumpled into the water. Raph lowered Leo off his shoulder and set him up against a wall, sitting in the water. Once he was sure he was out of the way and wouldn't fall over and drown in the water he charged into battle.

He ran over to the ninja he had hit with his sa'is and pulled it from his leg. He then turned to the swarm of others that had just joined the group.

"Want help Don?" he called.

"Certainly!" Don called back.

"Heads up!" Raph roared. He pulled the purple tied bo from his back and swung it at the heads of the ninja surrounding Don. Don ducked, but the heads of everyone else got smashed against the wooden object and they stumbled back. "Catch!" Raph yelled and threw the bo over to its rightful owner. "Thanks! I was wondering what happened to it."

"By the way, I found Leo but he passed out on the way over here."

"Where is he?"

Another flash of lightning illuminated the tunnel. Raph pointed mid-block and Don looked over to see Leo leaned up against the wall...surrounded by ninjas. "Raph!"

Raph turned around and saw it too. He ran at the crowd, jumped into the air, and slashed two ninja in the face. "Don't f*cking touch him!" He split kicked two more ninja, who then doubled over in pain and surprise.

"Yo dudes, am I late to the party?" he heard a familiar voice yell from up the original tunnel. Their orange clad brother stopped at the entrance to the tunnel and looked around, pulling out his nun chucks "Now why wasn't I invited?"

Mikey had no sooner pulled out his weapons when, alarmingly, the Foot soldiers began to retreat.

"What the-" asked Raph in surprise.

"I guess I _was _late to the party," said Mikey, scratching the back of his head, nun chucks still in hand.

"Guys, what's going on?" yelled Don from a few feet away. Every single ninja was retreating.

"I don't know," said Raph as he walked over to their unconscious brother. Placing his hands on his shoulders, he sighed with relief once he detected the light breathing. From what he could see through he dark, there didn't appear to be a scratch on him.

"He's fine," said Raph.

Don stepped up next to him. "Let me be the judge of that, once we get back to the lair."

"What the shell was that all about?" asked Mikey, referencing the fight.

"No idea. And hey, where did you come from?" asked Don.

Mikey shrugged. "Heard a fight, came over," he replied simply.

"Whatever, the important thing right now is that we get this new sixteen ear old home," said Raph. Mikey and Don nodded in agreement.

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><p>"You better have good news for me, Bennet, or else I would highly suggest walking back out that door and fixing it yourself."<p>

"Mistress, the plan is in order. We found the turtle Leonardo in the sewer tunnels. The cycle has begun."

"Excellent."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading. Please review!<strong>


	17. Year Sixteen

**Hey guys, so like I've mentioned before, I'm going to be uploading every Thursday to keep things consistent and to stay on-track. Here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy and review. I'm really looking for some criticism on this one. I kind of felt like I was thinking out loud when I wrote this so please tell me what you think!**

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><p><span>Year Sixteen<span>

Raph ran through the sewers stealthily, his older brother hanging limply over his shoulder. Actually, Raph wasn't quite sure if he _could_ still call him his older brother anymore- Not since he age-reversed two years.

Wait, what was he thinking? Of course Leo was still his older brother! He still had the same mindset and nagging personality. He was sure things would go back to normal soon. Don was like a super hero, and so was Leo. Between the two of them things would be back to normal in no time.

They continued to run through the sewers silently, only stopping once so that Raph could re-adjust . Mikey tried to reason with him that maybe Don or himself should carry Leo the rest of the way, but Raph refused. It was his responsibility.

As soon as they had made it back to the lair, Raph carried Leo right up to his room. Don began to argue that the best place for him would be back down in the lab, but Raph, once again, wouldn't have any of it, only making a rude comment on how easy it was for him to escape unnoticed from the lab last time. Leo's room was upstairs at the very end of the hallway, meaning that in order for him to run off again, he would have to walk past the three other bedrooms. Donny, still not completely convinced that this was the better option, decided to drop it temporarily. Something in Raph's attitude gave him the impression that he was not someone you wanted to mess with at the moment.

Once Raph had deposited Leo into his own bed and closed the door, Master Splinter appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"My sons, where is Leonardo?"

"We found him, Sensei. He's upstairs," said Don, plunking himself down on the couch, exhausted. He put his head in his hands. "Uugh, so much to do!" he groaned.

Master Splinter put on a sympathetic face and lay a furry paw on Donny's shoulder. "Donatello, your brothers and I will stand beside you the whole way." He sighed. "We will get out of this, don't you worry."

Don looked up at his master, then buried his face back in his hands. Mikey, who had been sitting on the arm of the couch, looked over at the clock on the TV.

"Well dudes, I'm going to hit the hay. Wake me if anything changes though, ok?"

Donny nodded.

"Sweet. Night Sensei," said Mikey as he walked up the stairs.

"Goodnight my son." Splinter nodded to his youngest son and turned to the one still sulking on the couch. "Donatello, you should get some rest as well. It is late and you will need your energy."

Don stood up from the couch just as Raph, who had been listening from the stairway, came down the stairs. "I'll sleep later. I have work to do," he said rather dully.

Splinter shook his head in frustration. He was not used to being disobeyed. He then turned to other son. "Raphael, bed time." he gestured up the stairs with his walking stick.

Raph merely shook off his Sensei's gesture, much to Splinters dismay. "Raphael!" he barked awkwardly. Raph just kept walking. Don looked back from the doorway to the lab.

"Sensei?"

"Let him be, Donatello. If it is time to himself he requires, then I will respect that- For now."

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><p>Raph grunted as his fist slammed into the dulled brown leather of the punching bag. His face became more twisted and contorted with every punch thrown. Every swing and hit was rhythmic and steady, balanced yet firm. Raph barely payed attention to his movements; his mind wasn't into it. His thoughts swam in a pool of confusion and wild fear.<p>

_What's going to happen to Leo?- Who's going to lead?- What the HELL is Karai planning?- How far are things going to go?- If worst comes to worst, can we really take care of a child?_

He felt bad about ignoring his Sensei and being defiant. He really did. He knew the last thing their frazzled family needed was a rebel at a time like this, but if he had stuck around a second longer, with all the pent up anxiety, all Hell would have broken loose.

This was, after all, _his_ fault.

He smashed his fist into the bag harder, splitting the skin on his right fist and let out a violent, deranged cry of inner turmoil.

_My fault. My fault. My fault!_

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><p>"TINK-BUR-WHIZZ!"<p>

Don jumped straight out of his chair, crashing his head on the fluorescent over-hanging desk lamp in the process. Startled and dazed, he sat back down and leaned into his chair, one hand on his chest and the other on his forehead.

_What the shell?_

Suddenly coming to the realization that he must have fallen asleep at his desk, he spun around to face the giant, monstrous buzzing machine that took up nearly a quarter of the lab. It was his "Do-All" machine. He'd built it one day when everyone had spent the entire morning bickering and fighting and he'd just wanted to be by himself. After that, he didn't stop his work on it for another two weeks. Consequently, he also lost ten pounds (forgetting to eat really made an impact!) and had to deal with a very angry Leo.

He reached into the mouth of the machine just as it printed out the most recent set of lab results.

His dazed, bleary eyes gradually narrowed and hardened as he glared coldly at the data.

"Dammit!" he cursed, throwing the failed lab results to the ground. He almost went to step on them out of frustration when he heard a girlish shriek coming from the living room. Don rushed out of the lab just as Mikey tore through the upstairs hallway and shouted down over the railing.

"Leo's gone again!"

At this, Don heard Raph fling his door open and come barreling into the hallway after the youngest.

"What?" he shouted. Don noticed the oddly deep purple circles under his eyes and had to guess that he only went to bed quite recently.

"Whats going on Mikey?" Don asked.

"Leo's not in his room! I think he ran off again!"

Don's heart seemed to stop dead as he processed this. Raph instantly ran into Leo's room and blasted open the door. "Leo!" They heard him call.

"What's all the commotion about?"

Don whipped around instinctively to find Leo standing, head cocked slightly to the side, confusedly outside the dojo, katana in hand. Don felt his heart restart like a wild fire.

"Found him, Raph," he sighed loudly.

Raph immediately came thundering out of the room. If Mikey had had the sense to run, Don was sure he would have. Instead, he stood there looking terrified as Raph shoved him half-way across the hall and stomped down the stairs.

"Umm, am I missing something?" Leo asked, still perplexed.

"We-Thought-You-Had-Left!" Raph managed to growl out through clenched teeth. He came to stand in front of Leo, nose-to-nose, eyes shooting daggers.

"Oh..,um, yeah. I was just in the dojo practicing."

Don's jaw dropped. What the shell was going on? It was like roll reversal! And Leo was at least three inches shorter than Raph now- definitely shorter than he was before.

Raph should have steam coming out of his ears by now, Don was certain, and Mikey was bracing himself against the railing like he was preparing himself for an explosion. Although he was still slightly bewildered, Leo held his ground fiercely. The silence in the room was deadly.

"I'm going out for some air," Raph finally growled. He side-stepped Leo, shoving him hard in the shoulder, before coming to an abrupt stop just before the lair entrance. Apparently coming to the realization that they were forbidden to leave, he quickly turned around and stormed off to the dojo himself.

Mikey and Don turned their eyes to Leo nervously.

"I-I should go talk to him," The eldest stammered before trudging after him.

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><p>Leo was hesitant to enter the dojo. Usually he was always up for besting Raph and his hot temper, but not this time. Leo knew that no matter what he said, he wasn't going to win this one. But some things just had to be done, so he stepped inside.<p>

Raph was in his usual spot beating the snot out of his favorite punching bag. Leo knew he'd have to be an idiot to sneak up behind him, so instead he hesitantly muttered "Raph?"

Raph remained focused on the punching bag. "What?" he gruffly asked, not bothering to turn around.

"I just wanted to say-... Look Raph, I'm not going to apologize for training. I can take care of myself. I'm not five."

"Not yet."

That was like a slap to the face. Raph seemed to realize what he'd said almost immediately after he'd said it. He stopped beating on the bag and rested an arm up against it, still not looking at Leo.

Leo sucked in a breath of air. He had wanted this conversation to go well, to reach some common ground, even if Raph didn't agree with his choices. He could see now that that wasn't going to happen.

"Look Leo-"

"No you look Raph. Seriously, look at me! Do I look like a child to you? Do I look unqualified to lead this team? What happens will happen, but I'm here right now and I don't need nor want to be mothered like a child. So back off!" And with that Leo stormed out of the dojo, leaving Raph as shocked as Leo had been just moments ago.

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><p><strong>Just another quick note, sorry if this wasn't the most interesting chapter to read, but it really was necessary that I got his one down. Emotions are shifting<em> fast<em>! Please Review!**


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